Saredoshio Moshio Japanese Seaweed Salt - 100g

Moshio is a highly treasured salt in Japan produced from seawater and seaweed, leading to a unique flavor profile with significant umami in addition to saltiness. 

This particular moshio is from the waters and seaweed of the Seto Uchi Sea, known for its high mineral content and rich waters, using a traditional method that was once abandoned and almost lost. 

The makers first condense seawater by having it trickle slowly down a clay ramp in the sun, and then spray this seawater from the top of a tower of fine bamboo sticks where the wind then evaporates the water content further. Then this water is combined with seaweed from the Seto Uchi Sea and boiled down to create this precious salt. 

As this is a delicate salt with high umami notes, we recommend that you use this as a finishing salt. Excellent particularly for making onigiri (rice balls), or sprinkling on top of cold tofu (hiyayakko), carpaccio. As it has rich mineral umami from seaweed, it also pairs extremely well with soups, pickles, or sushi. You can also add it when preparing dressings, marinades, or even sweets.

Salt production from the ocean has a long history in Japan, as it is a country surrounded by ocean coupled by the fact that it has very few salt rock deposits or saline lakes compared to other countries. Japanese people refined their knowledge on how best to extract salt from the oceans, and coastal beaches had an abundance of salt fields. 

However in 1971, the government passed legislation that banned all salt production from seawater, and instead only allowed salt to be made from a new method called ion exchange membrane electrodialysis which created a highly purified salt which was 99%  sodium chloride. The precious coastal land was then turned into industrial use, and salt was made more efficiently and cheaply. However this led to the disappearance of all salt mines, and with it salt that carried high mineral content. 

In 1997 this law was repealed, and traditional methods of making salt from seawater have resumed.

100g 

Product of Japan